The Evolution of the De Minimis Defence to Copyright Infringement under Article 15(1) of the European Digital Single Market Directive

摘要

Article 15(1) of the European Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market 2019 to modernise its copyright framework (by providing inter alia appropriate remuneration for publishers of press publications) contains an express exception for the taking of individual words or very short extracts. This article considers lessons and warnings from common law copyright jurisprudence involving de minimis takings in infringement cases that courts may find instructive once the Directive is in force. As Brexit looms, an imagined return to a copyright world before the United Kingdom was required to absorb European imposed changes is only one possible outcome.